Trump Tyranny Tracker: American Authoritarianism Advances On Multiple Fronts

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While Putin and Trump's hollow "peace" negotiations dominated headlines, several equally alarming developments reveal the authoritarian playbook being implemented domestically. From targeting nonprofits to indoctrinating schoolchildren, the pattern becomes clearer when viewed holistically.

17 CARTEL FAMILY MEMBERS ENTER U.S. UNDER SECRET TRUMP DEAL

In an extraordinary development that received minimal mainstream coverage, Mexico's security chief confirmed that 17 family members of Sinaloa cartel leader Ovidio Guzmán López, including El Chapo's ex-wife and daughter, entered the United States last week under a secret arrangement with the Trump administration.

The backdoor deal follows rumors that Guzmán is cooperating with U.S. prosecutors to avoid trial, but the scale and secrecy of the arrangement raise profound questions about the administration's approach to rule of law and congressional oversight.

"I honestly put it in [today's tracker] because I have a lot of questions about why he brought this whole family into the U.S., why it was done secretly," Lautman explained. "If they are cooperating, he could have, you know, after bringing them here said like, well, they're working with our prosecutors."

The hypocrisy is staggering – while the administration publicly portrays migrants seeking asylum as dangerous criminals, it quietly arranges for actual cartel families to enter and reside in the United States. This selective application of immigration policy based on political calculations rather than legal principles represents another hallmark of authoritarian governance.

HOUSE GOP ADVANCING MEASURE TO STRIP NONPROFITS OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS WITHOUT DUE PROCESS

A House GOP measure backed by Trump would allow the Treasury Department to revoke tax-exempt status from nonprofits deemed "terrorist supporting" without due process. The amendment has advanced but still requires Senate approval, creating a narrow window for resistance against what experts view as a dangerous weapon to silence political opposition.

The deliberately vague language of the bill mirrors Russia's infamous "foreign agent law," which effectively destroyed independent civil society organizations by labeling them enemies of the state. "This basically puts any organization into the crosshairs of Trump and his regime," explains Olga Lautman, who rarely raises alarms but considers this development particularly dangerous.

"For Trump, anyone who's not supporting him is a terrorist," Lautman noted during our discussion. With such loose definitions, organizations from disability rights groups to universities to anti-corruption watchdogs could find themselves targeted. Meanwhile, right-wing MAGA organizations operating as nonprofits would likely remain untouched.

This represents a textbook authoritarian move: using deliberately ambiguous legislation to create a legal mechanism for selectively targeting opponents while claiming to address legitimate concerns. The time to resist this measure is now, before it receives final approval.

OKLAHOMA MANDATES TEACHING ELECTION CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Oklahoma's new K-12 social studies standards, pushed by pro-Trump Superintendent Ryan Walters, now require students to "identify discrepancies" in the 2020 election – effectively embedding thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories about ballot dumps and mail-in voting directly into educational materials.

This institutionalization of election disinformation in public education represents a particularly insidious form of authoritarian control – capturing the next generation through systematic indoctrination. "You're taking election lies, lies, lies, lies, and putting it into textbooks to basically produce the next generation of MAGA," Lautman observed.

The parallels to authoritarian regimes' manipulation of educational systems are unmistakable. "It reminds me of what I see in Russia. How many times I've seen textbooks rewritten, rewritten, depending on what the agenda is," Lautman explained. "And this is what's happening here."

By requiring students to "study" manufactured controversies about a decisively settled election, Oklahoma's education officials aren't promoting critical thinking – they're legitimizing falsehoods and creating a generation potentially receptive to future claims of election fraud when results don't favor their preferred candidates.

CENTRIST DAN DEFEATS PRO-TRUMP SIMION IN ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL UPSET

Amid these concerning domestic developments, international elections offer a counterpoint to the spread of authoritarianism. Centrist Nicușor Dan won Romania's presidency with 54% of the vote, defeating hard-right, Trump-aligned Kremlin loyalist George Simion, who had campaigned to cut Ukraine aid and implement MAGA-style policies.

This outcome maintains Romania's critical role as a NATO ally and Ukraine supporter. "Had Romania fallen, it would be extremely devastating for Europeans if Romania became another proxy of Russia," Lautman explained, noting the country's strategic importance regarding the Black Sea region.

The victory represents part of a broader international rejection of Trumpism following similar results in Canada, Moldova, and Albania. "The pattern that has emerged since Trump came back to power...is basically everybody's watching what is happening in the United States, and they're saying, 'fuck no, I don't want any of that,'" Lautman observed.

This democratic countertrend offers a reminder that authoritarian advances can be reversed when citizens recognize the threats to their democratic institutions and mobilize to protect them – a lesson Americans would do well to heed as we track the acceleration of authoritarian tactics at home.